


His First Clue

by LittleSweetCheeks



Series: Things People Notice [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 09:07:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7612192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His first clue, in hindsight, should have been a raid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His First Clue

His first clue, in hindsight, should have been a raid.  He’d been dealing with the fallout of the divorce and trying to covertly keep an eye on Reid, who was overcoming drug addiction without the help of any of his support system.  But in hindsight, he should have known.

Aaron Hotchner always prided himself on being aware of what was happening within his team, now his family.  He knew secrets even if the keeper didn’t want them acknowledged, it was what got him their loyalty.  But occasionally, the mind does not make connections it doesn’t want to see.

They were in Richmond, standing in for crisis negotiation.  When they’d rolled onto the scene, the team had piled out and immediately strapped on their Kevlar vests.  If he hadn’t been busy with the task at hand, Hotch would have taken note of JJ’s wince at the tight fit and her adjusting the straps under her armpits.  He only took passing notice of her fidgeting, seeming to not be able to get the vest to settle comfortably.  Very quickly bullets were flying and his team was rushing in alongside SWAT and all passing thoughts of his teammate were forgotten.

Later that evening while making the two hour drive back to D.C., he had only JJ and Emily in his car; the other three were in the other SUV somewhere ahead.  Emily was sound asleep in the back seat and he had thought JJ was asleep as well.    He didn’t wonder why they chose to ride with him when they had to drive instead of fly; Rossi, Morgan, and Reid tended to feel the need to fill the silence whereas he was happy to let the silence fill the vehicle.  Suddenly JJ insisted, “Pull over.”

Hotch didn’t even question her, he simply followed her instruction and pulled to the shoulder.  She had jumped out into the darkness and a moment later he winced at the sound of retching through the open door.  He fished around behind his seat for one of the bottles of water he knew Emily had bought, figuring she would forgive him later, and let himself out of the SUV.

JJ was standing to the back of the vehicle, one hand on the fender, when he rounded the back, “Sorry.”

He shook his head, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute.”  She was thankful he probably couldn’t see her mess in the near darkness.  “Buffet Chinese was a bad idea.”

He offered the bottle of water, “Drink.  I don’t think there’s anything in the car to help settle your stomach, but there’s an exit a couple miles up, we can stop.”

“No, I’ll be okay, we still have a while to drive and you have to be tired.”  She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth.

Hotch took the hint and went back to his seat, giving her privacy.

After several more minutes, JJ slid into her seat looking slightly pale.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” 

He eyed her, “Tell me if you need to stop again.”  He waited for a nod before restarting the car.  At the next exit, despite her protests, Hotch stopped at a gas station and bought medicine and some Gatorade. 

When they arrived back in D.C., Hotch stopped at Emily’s apartment first, assuring her that he would pick her up in the morning so she could get her car from work.  When he pulled up out front of JJ’s place, he caught her arm, “If you feel worse, call me.  In the morning let me know if you feel alright to come in and I’ll come get you as well.”

“Hotch, it was bad Chinese, I’m fine.  I promise.”

Later, he would suspect she believed that.

=====

Hotch and Rossi had been in Boston when he’d learned of JJ’s strange reaction and insistence on taking a case without them.  He didn’t question her judgment, but receiving more than one call with concern about her was a bit curious. 

When everyone had returned, he called her into his office, motioning for her to have a seat.  He wasn’t sure how to start, so he stalled by standing and closing the door.  Finally he sat on the edge of his desk, “Is everything okay?”

JJ held her breath, afraid he’d worked it out.  She choked out, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

Hotch had caught the momentary guilty look, but didn’t comment.  He could tell now that she was hiding something and it was eating at her.  “Is there something going on I need to know about?”  He asked gently.

She shook her head and avoided eye contact.

“I’m not at all bothered by the fact you saw a case that needed our team and you stepped up and got it taken care of.  It’s your job to bring me the most urgent cases that need our attention and since I wasn’t available, you took initiative.”  He hoped a little praise for her good work would help put her at ease.

She smiled slightly, “Everything’s fine, Hotch.  I can do my job.”

“I didn’t think you couldn’t.  This job is hard, it takes its toll.  Sometimes we need to step back for just a little while to take a breath.”  He studied her, “If you need any time, let me know.  You are important to what we do, but I would rather lose you for a case or two for some personal time than forever because of burnout.”

JJ stood, mindful not to rub her middle, choosing to cross her arms instead.  “I’ll let you know if I need time.  I promise.”

He nodded and watched her leave and head pack into her own office.  He could tell she was holding something back.

=====

The moment Hotch saw Will in the hotel; he had a gut feeling about what was coming next.  The profiler in him screamed he should have seen it coming.  The friend in him was sad she felt she needed to hide it.  He tried his best to give in to his urge to simply flee, to avoid her seeing the hurt of not being trusted to know.  He should have known that JJ would chase after him. 

After the case was over and he was trying to move around his hotel room, collecting his things, someone knocked on his door.  It took him a minute to register the sound before he moved to open it. 

JJ stood in the hall, waiting nervously.  The rest of the team had fussed over her after her announcement, but she knew she’d hurt Hotch with her deception.  When he opened the door, she was at a loss for words.

He stared at her a moment before motioning for her to come in.  “How far along are you?”

“About three months.  I’m due in early December.”

Hotch nodded, “So last month..”

“I had just found out for certain.  I wasn’t sure how Will would react.  I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner.  Really, I am.”  She reached out for his arm, turning him to face her, “I didn’t plan this.”

He sighed, “I know.  Three months, JJ?  You’ve been on raids, shot at.  You’ve been running around chasing unsubs and you fell a while back off that ledge.  If I’d have known, I would have forced you to get a full work-up.”

“How could you have known when I didn’t?”

“I should have seen it.”  He chewed his lip as he thought back, “I should have noticed when we were in Richmond.”

“Richmond?”

“You couldn’t seem to get your vest on right, kept messing with it.  On the way home you were sick, bad Chinese you said.”

She nodded, remembering.  “I promise not to keep anything else from you intentionally again.  Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I need to grab my stuff.  I’ll see you downstairs?”

“Um, no.  Someone is driving me back since I’m not supposed to fly with this ear.”  He motioned at the side of his head.

“Oh.  Why didn’t you ask one of us?  It’s not a bad drive; someone would have taken you so you don’t have to deal with a stranger.”

“It’s fine.  I’m due for medicine anyway, so I’d be lousy company.”  He smiled at her.  “Go ahead, I’ll be fine.  You get back and talk to Will.”

JJ nodded and slowly made her way out of his room and down the hall.

Hotch stared at the air where she’d stood and swore that he would pay better attention to his team and their needs.


End file.
